Jamie Foxx wasn't allowed on stage in college musical because he's black

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Oscar winner Jamie Foxx revealed he encountered racism before his Hollywood career took off.

Foxx recounted an incident in college saying he was not allowed to appear on stage in a musical because of his ethnicity.

The 50-year-old star, who was in conversation with comic Sarah Silverman on "Off Script", said he used to sing his parts from behind the curtains as African Americans were not a part of the production team, People magazine reported.

"They came to me because they needed a tenor. They wouldn't let me go on the stage but they would let me behind the curtain because there weren't any African Americans in the production. So I was would sing in the back, and I would just sing the parts they needed me (for)," Foxx said of his college music department.

The Grammy-winning actor-singer, however, did not reveal the name of the play. He attended United States International University, where he studied classical music and composition.

Foxx added, "And that's how I learned about musicals."